Ketamine may Reduce PTSD Symptoms

U.S., Feb. 9 -- According to a new study by a team of researchers from Columbia University Medical Center, or CUMC, giving a single dose of ketamine, anesthetic or rapid-acting antidepressant, a week before a person experience some nerve-racking event may lower the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, symptoms.
For the study, the researchers used the mice model. The mice were divided into two groups. One group was given a small intravenous dose of ketamine, while the other group was given a placebo, either one month, one week or one hour before they were subjected to some stressful event. After subjecting them to some traumatic event, the researchers brought them back to the same environment to analyse their fear response or freezing behavior.
The findings of the study revealed that the mice that were given ketamine a week before they were subjected to stressful event showed reduced freezing as well as reduced stress-related events.
The findings of the study were published in the journal, Neuropsychopharmacology.